10 canonical passages across 8 cases, quoted by 192 opinions in total. These passages cluster together because the same opinions keep quoting them side by side — they state parts of one doctrine. The anchor passage is from In Re James Davenport and Sherman Nichols.
| # | Case | Flag | Canonical passage | Citers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In Re James Davenport and Sherman Nichols Anchor | green | “a procedure for postconviction relief can be fairly termed inadequate when it is so configured as to deny a convicted defendant any opportunity for judicial rectification of so fundamental a defect in his conviction as having been imprisoned for a nonexistent offense.” | 49 |
| 2 | United States v. Russell Prevatte | green | “inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of his detention.” | 39 |
| 3 | Benjamin Barry Kramer v. Keith E. Olson, Warden, United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, Indiana | green | “exclusive means for a federal prisoner to attack his conviction.” | 32 |
| 4 | Michael Hill v. Robert Werlinger | green | “inadequate or ineffective' means that 'a legal theory that could not have been presented under 2255 establishes the petitioner's actual innocence.” | 21 |
| 5 | Bruce Carneil Webster v. Charles A. Daniels | green | “there must be some kind of structural problem with section 2255 before section 2241 becomes available.” | 14 |
| 6 | Samuel Todd Taylor v. Charles R. Gilkey, Warden | green | “inadequate or ineffective' means that 'a legal theory that could not have been presented under 2255 establishes the petitioner's actual innocence.” | 11 |
| 7 | Bernard Hawkins v. United States | green | “an error in calculating a defendant's guidelines sentencing range does not justify postconviction relief unless the defendant had . . . been sentenced in the pre-booker era, when the guidelines were mandatory rather than merely advisory.” | 9 |
| 8 | Bruce Carneil Webster v. Charles A. Daniels | green | “something more than a lack of success with a section 2255 motion” | 7 |
| 9 | Benjamin Barry Kramer v. Keith E. Olson, Warden, United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, Indiana | green | “the possibility that the convictions hinged on conduct congress never intended to criminalize.” | 5 |
| 10 | Bernard Hawkins v. United States | green | “we held in hawkins that the error in calculating the guidelines range did not constitute a miscarriage of justice for 2255 purposes given the advisory nature of the guidelines and the district court's determination that the sentence was appropriate and that it did not exceed th…” | 5 |
A red or yellow flag on a member means the underlying case has negative treatment — for those, check the case page before relying on the passage.